"Thanks to Yorkshire Cancer Research and the YorQuit stop smoking trial, we're going to be able to make more memories together." – Linda and Terry's experience

Linda Brown and Terry Osborne will soon be celebrating 30 years as partners. They first met as social service workers before going on to raise three children together in Hull. Now, the pair are happily retired and living in the village of Halsham, East Yorkshire, spending time gardening, enjoying family life and making memories with their two grandchildren. 

An important part of their new chapter is that, after nearly six decades of smoking, Linda and Terry have successfully quit thanks to a pioneering clinical trial.

Through the YorQuit study, funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research, Linda and Terry were offered stop smoking support following a lung scan. The couple are now sharing their experience to highlight the difference this approach can make to people across the region and raise awareness about the life-changing benefits of becoming smokefree. 

Both Linda and Terry first started smoking when they were young.  

Terry said: "My father and my grandfather were fisherman, and in our community, everyone smoked, whether it was down at the docks, the pub or in the home. I was 12 when I began taking spare papers from my dad's drawer so I could roll my own tobacco. It was just part of growing up.”

Linda added: "I also smoked my first cigarette when I was 12. It was the girl next door who invited me to come along to the youth club and meet her friends, where they all encouraged me to give it a go. It horrifies me now to think I started so young, but back then, we didn't understand how damaging smoking could be to our health.”

Smoking tobacco remains the largest cause of preventable illness. It contains harmful chemicals which enter the bloodstream and affect the entire body, making it responsible for at least 16 different types of cancer, including lung cancer. 

New data published this month shows the smoking rate in Yorkshire remains the highest in England, with around half a million adults who smoke. 1 in 5 adults in Hull smoke – meaning it has the highest smoking rate of anywhere in the country. 

Sadly, more people in Hull are diagnosed with and die from lung cancer than anywhere else in Yorkshire. 

Led by Professor Rachael Murray and delivered by researchers at the University of Nottingham, University of York and Cardiff University, the YorQuit study is a clinical trial investigating the most effective ways to help people quit smoking following a lung health check through the NHS targeted lung screening programme.

Launched in 2024, the YorQuit trial aims to involve around 2,000 people who would like to stop or reduce their smoking by testing different methods to help them quit, including using a digital app, telephone calls from a specialist advisor and offers of incentives.  

The trial aims to show how this combined approach could help address inequalities by reaching communities in with higher smoking rates and ensuring those who have an increased risk of developing cancer can access the stop smoking support they need. So far, the trial has provided vital support to hundreds of people in Hull, Bradford and Manchester, and will shortly expand to Leeds.

In January 2026, Linda and Terry were among those invited to take part in the study after attending a lung health check. They were given the opportunity to test one of several stop smoking support approaches being offered through the trial while receiving guidance from a specialist team. For both Linda and Terry, signing up to the study wasn’t their first attempt to quit. 

Linda explained: "Terry tried for two months in his early 40s, and in 2024 I managed to go 51 days smokefree. However, we both had a very hard time with the withdrawal symptoms, and neither of us had access to the right support to keep us going. I was pulled back into the habit when my sister became very ill."

Having experienced problems with her health, Linda was immediately interested in taking part in the YorQuit study and Terry was determined to join her. 

Linda said: "My coughing used to keep me up at night, and I found it very difficult to clear my throat, no matter how many times I tried. I'd been having trouble with the circulation in my leg, and even had pneumonia, which was really scary."

The YorQuit study builds on nearly a decade of innovative research funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research which is finding new and better ways to prevent and detect cancer. The Yorkshire Lung Screening Trial, delivered in partnership with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Leeds, provided thousands of life-saving lung health checks to communities across Leeds and helped pave the way for the NHS national lung screening programme.  

Now, through the YorQuit trial, researchers hope to identify the most successful stop smoking strategies, helping to shape future NHS policies that can have the greatest impact on reducing cancer risk and saving lives.

Research shows people are up to three times more likely to quit for good with specialist behavioural support and stop smoking treatment. Linda and Terry were both assigned to a research group receiving regular telephone support from a dedicated team of stop smoking advisors, alongside access to stop smoking aids. In her group, Linda was also given a voucher designed as an incentive to quit. 

Linda said: "The first few days using the vape were challenging, but with the support of the advisor, it did get easier and easier. Both Terry and I started on the highest nicotine dose, and after 13 weeks we went down to the lowest one. Finding the right support and the right treatment was absolutely key."

Linda continued: "I understand why the incentive might help encourage some people to quit, but for me, the calls from the advisor were the biggest factor in helping me succeed.”

Yorkshire Cancer Research funds £6.3 million of stop smoking research and services in the region, which also includes its own free personalised specialist service to help anyone who is looking to quit for good. Since 2015, more than 6,000 people in Yorkshire have successfully quit smoking thanks to research and services funded by the charity.  

Six months after Linda and Terry stopped smoking, the couple are experiencing many benefits with their health and wellbeing. 

Terry said: "Physical activity used to make me quite breathless, but now I feel fitter and more energised. It's been very helpful the last few months while we've been moving house!"

Linda said: "Now I've stopped smoking, I no longer wheeze when I'm going to sleep. I lay down at night and I breathe easy. We've both been exercising a lot more too, going to the gym to swim and cycle. One of my hobbies is making big cement pots out in the garden, so I've been feeling less tired while doing what I love." 

Linda and Terry's achievement has additionally become one celebrated by the whole family.  

Their daughter, Deanne, said: "Growing up in a smoking family, it was just expected we would also pick it up. But public awareness has changed so much since we were younger, and we've come to understand the risks a lot more. I want to be the healthiest version of myself for my children, I'm really proud of our parents for taking that step too."

Dan, their son, added: "Watching our parents quit smoking was a miracle breakthrough.  It means we're a smokefree family now. By breaking the cycle, we're helping to make sure future generations of our family don't see smoking as something so normal."

For Lilly, their 14-year-old granddaughter, her grandparents no longer smoking means more happy weekends and trips together. 

Terry said: "With my newfound energy, I was able to put up a new shed in the garden with our grandson. Being smokefree is already giving us those lovely days together."

Linda concluded: "Seeing how proud our grandchildren are now we've quit smoking means everything to me. Family is the most important thing to us, and thanks to Yorkshire Cancer Research and the YorQuit stop smoking trial, we're going to be able to make more memories together. If you’re invited to take part in the study, I’d strongly encourage you to give it a go. We’ve done something we never imagined to be possible.”